#lavenderstobins josieverse

[lavenderstobins]

Eddie’s in danger.

He knows he’s in danger because there is a four year old beelining for him, trying very hard to appear like she’s not rapidly advancing towards him.

When Josie finally stops, she’s right in front of him.

He has no idea what might’ve spurred this. Best to play it safe. “Hey, kiddo.”

Josie blinks innocently at him. “You broked Steve’s mug.”

Shit. The mug. It had been an accident—he’d balanced it too precariously when he’d been doing the dishes and it had slipped. They have plenty of mugs so it shouldn’t have been an issue, except… it was Steve’s lucky mug.

Steve loves that mug. He always drinks out of it if he needs the good luck that day and swears that it never fails him. If he sees it has broken, he’d take it as a sign of, like, the worst luck ever, and that would be the end of that.

The break had been clean, at least. The pieces are currently hidden away in a shoebox until he has time to get the glue to fix it. It’ll be an easy enough fix, so Steve should be none-the-wiser.

Except.

“The luck mug,” Josie continues, presumably trying to raise an eyebrow but instead raising both of her eyebrows high up her forehead. It takes everything inside him not to snort at the sight.

“I’m fixing it,” he replies. Maybe this can be a lesson about white lies, or doing good, or something. There’s probably a lesson here, right? “Steve won’t know it ever broke.”

Josie blinks up at him again. “Be shame if he did.”

Eddie’s smile fades. “What?”

“Be shame if Steve knew you broked his mug,” she repeats, fixing him with a stare that’s oddly reminiscent of Erica.

Is he… is he being blackmailed by a child?

“Josie,” he starts, leaning forward so that they’re eye-to-eye and taking on a desperate tone. “You can’t tell Steve, okay? Nobody can know about the broken mug.”

She sighs heavily. It would be comical if not for the way his heartbeat has increased.

“I know,” she says, shaking her head. “But maybe I not know.”

“Don’t know,” he corrects, then squints. “What do you mean?”

“I know you broked his mug, Deedee.” Her tone is serious. “For Baby Sapphire, I not know. Baby Sapphire make it go—” She mimes an explosion with her hands, puffing out her cheeks. “Bye-bye.”

“Baby— What?”

Josie pulls out a crumpled catalogue page out of her pocket and holds it out. On it, in the corner, is a small, bug-eyed, blue plastic horse labelled Baby Sapphire. It’s the ugliest thing he’s ever seen. The nose isn’t even long enough for the horse to breathe. It’s like the pug of ponies.

Eddie looks up, meeting Josie’s pointed stare. It’s a battle he knows he’s already lost.

“Not a word,” he instructs, tucking the paper into his pocket. Josie brightens, beaming up at him, then skips away, merry as ever.

This is his life now. Blackmailed by a preschooler.

—

“Did you know Josie’s resorted to blackmail now?” Eddie says offhandedly. He’s sitting on the kitchen counter as Steve chops carrots, watching Josie play with her new toy from his view of the living room doorway.

“Earlier than I expected, honestly,” Steve says, not looking up. “What did she have on you?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, not on me.” Eddie laughs, shaking his head. “I watched her extort Mike earlier.”

Steve glances at him, frowning. “Mike’s been out of Hawkins for two days.”

Fuck.

“I think Robin’s calling for me, actually.” Eddie slides off the counter, backing away as Steve’s eyebrows raise in amusement. “I’d love to continue this conversation, but, duty calls.”

“Robin’s out with Max!” Steve calls as Eddie makes a hasty retreat to the living room. “You’re fooling nobody, babe!”

Josie looks up as Eddie closes the door behind him, ugly horse in hand. Moments later, Steve opens the door again, one hand on his hip.

“What did you do?” He swivels from Eddie to Josie. “Josie, sweetie, what did Deedee do?”

Eddie stares at Josie, practically feeling the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Josie shrugs, still playing. “I no know.”

He’s filled with relief. Steve doesn’t look convinced.

“Are you sure?” he presses. “It’s important to tell the truth, Josie.”

She stops, then, squinting up at him. “Always?”

“Always,” Steve confirms.

“Like when you said Bel eated Mama’s food but it was you?”

Steve falters, mouth falling open. A huge grin spreads across Eddie’s face.

“You what?” Eddie asks delightedly. “Stevie, you didn’t blame our cat for eating Robin’s leftovers!”

“Okay, you know what?” Steve holds his hands up in surrender, taking a step back. “Keep your secrets. Let’s not ask questions anymore.”

Eddie’s already laughing, though. “Steve, Rob almost took Bel to the vet because she thought she’d eaten fried rice.”

“I know!”

“And you offered to drive her there!”

“I know!”

—

[now on ao3]

[sweepy-stringbean]

SPOODER TRIO… JOSIEVERSE COLOUR…

Spooder Trio has been sitting for months :(

While Josieverse is thriving :)

[imthursdaysyme]

this is my lovely friend @lavenderstobins josie buckley going through her emo phase

[lavenderstobins]

robin introduces a house rule when her daughter's maybe four or five: movies after 7pm only, unless they're child-friendly. josie goes to bed at 7pm, so it isn't an issue, really.

the thing is, the rule carries through as she ages, but what robin, steve, eddie and nancy forgot to account for was that kids are smart.

josie, obviously, knows that they only watch films she's not allowed to watch after she's gone to bed. but she also knows that they operate on supposed dinosaur logic, which is if she sits very, very still, they will forget she's there.

it works... for a while.

because one night, they're watching scream, and they've just reached the reveal of who ghostface is. robin and nancy are tucked into an armchair together, and steve and eddie are lounging on the couch. eddie tucked up against steve's chest, says, "oh, stu and billy definitely have a lil something-something going on." they've definitely kissed"

"they've definitely kissed," robin agrees.

on the screen, billy stabs stu to sell their story, and eddie grins. "with tongue, yeah."

and josie, eight years old, far too young to understand any deeper concept of the conversation, pipes up, "why would he stab him if they've kissed?"

and eddie, who had forgotten she was there, yells, "JESUS FUCK!"

[lavenderstobins]

Kitty (Josieverse)

for @stcreators event 07: comedy [ao3]

—

Steve comes home from work and finds the house oddly empty. Eddie's at Wayne's, he knows, but Robin and Josie should be long home by now.

"Rob?" he calls, heading up the stairs.

They're not in Robin's room, Josie's room or his and Eddie's room; not the bathroom, attic or playroom.

He's about to call for them again, heading towards the entrance to the basement, when he hears a muffled noise from the backyard.

Steve opens the backdoor and immediately finds both Robin and Josie atop the trampoline. They're not using it, though — Robin's holding Josie in her arms, her back to him, pressed as close as she can get into the netting around it.

"Kitty!" Josie shouts joyfully, waving her hands. "Here, kitty, kitty!"

"Josephine, for the last time, that is not a cat!" Robin's voice is strained. "Do not encourage it!"

"Kitty cat!"

"What's going on?" Steve calls, scanning for whatever's got them seemingly trapped. There aren't any bears in Hawkins, to his knowledge, or at least, none close enough to wander into their backyard.

A jolt of panic goes through him. The Upside Down was sealed off years ago, but what if it's reopened somehow? Could there be a democreature in their garden?

He's about to race off to grab his nailbat—carefully bubblewrapped in his wardrobe, he's not irresponsible—when Robin turns to face him, eyes wide and terrified. In doing so, he can see not only Josie's gleeful expression, but the 'kitty cat' that has them holed up on the trampoline.

It's no democreature. At the back of their garden, staring back at them, is a small raccoon.

"Steve!" Robin's face floods with relief. "Get it away!"

"Kitty!" Josie makes grabby hands in the raccoon's direction. "Fluffy kitty!"

"No fluffy kitty!" Robin holds her tighter as she struggles, wrestling to keep her from bounding towards it. "Plague carrier! Death bringer!"

"Steeeeve, look! Look!" Josie waves at him. "Kitty!"

"How— How long have you been up there?" Steve's trying so, so hard to keep a straight face. Now that there's a clear lack of danger, the situation is looking a lot funnier.

Robin, because she always sees straight through him, scowls at him. "It's not funny, Steve! Do you want us to all die of rabies?"

"Rabies!" Josie yells delightedly.

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on." He ducks back inside, grabbing the broom from the cupboard. He grabs Eddie's gardening gloves for good measure if only so Robin doesn't yell at him.

Robin watches him with the eyes of a hawk as he slowly approaches the raccoon. It's a little thing, clearly young, only a couple of steps actually into their garden. It blinks up at him with big eyes.

"Go on, little fella," he murmurs, gently nudging it with the end of the broom. He's careful not to jab at it; he doesn't want to hurt it.

The raccoon scuffles back a bit, looking at him dolefully.

"Yeah, I know, it looks ridiculous to me, too." He glances back at the other two, taking in the stress on Robin's face, then prods it again. "But I think Robin might genuinely have a heart attack if you stay here any longer."

The raccoon chitters at him, possibly in annoyance, and flounces off into the woodland. Once he's sure it's gone, he heads back to the trampoline, trying to hide his smile.

"You got rid of it?" Robin squints at him, like he might've hidden the raccoon up his sweater or something. "It's gone?"

"It's gone," he confirms. Her shoulders sag with relief and she finally lets Josie slide down.

"Kitty," Josie says sadly. She stares off into the distance for a moment, but then seems to distract herself remembering that the trampoline is a trampoline, beginning to bounce wildly instead.

Robin wobbles, grabbing Steve's shoulders to steady herself as she finally emerges from the trampoline.

"Thanks," she mumbles, brushing her hair from her face.

He grins at her. "How long?"

She grimaces, flushing. "... I don't want to talk about it."

"How long, Buckley?"

"... Two hours."

[lavenderstobins]

the thing about josieverse is that one minute i’m tearing up picturing josie taking her first steps towards robin and then the next minute i’m tearing up imagining robin and steve trying not to cry on josie’s wedding day and then the NEXT minute I’m flat out bawling imagining robin and nancy fondly watching josie’s children, their grandchildren, play in their garden because they survived the hell they went through in their teens and they’ve been happily together for decades since and now they have this whole family together

[lavenderstobins]

Josie: But none of my friends have a curfew, Mom! Steve, please talk to her!

Steve, fighting back a grin: Hi, Robin

Robin, also trying not to laugh: Hey, Steve!

Josie: NOW CUT THAT OUT

[sweepy-stringbean]

Josieverse color? 🥺🤲

Practicing my coloring by returning to my other drawings🥺

[lavenderstobins]

Eddie, trying to teach Josie body positivity from a young age: You know, women can be any shape they want to be

Josie, face lighting up: REALLY?

Eddie: Yeah! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

[later]

Robin: You’ve got some explaining to do, Munson

Eddie: What?

Robin: This whole… shape thing

Eddie: What, you don’t want her being body positive? I’m surprised, Robin, I thought you’d—

Robin: Huh? No, I mean explaining why my daughter’s insisting on being an octagon

Eddie, realising his words may have been misconstrued: … Ah

[lavenderstobins]

when robin goes into labor with josie she doesn't say anything initially because steve's at work and she doesn't want to have him rush home 'needlessly'.

eddie hears her cry out, realises she's in labor, and in a panic asks, "can you try to hold it in?"

[lavenderstobins]

steve picks up robin's daughter from school while she's at work. she runs into his car and immediately he hears "uncle steve! today someone ate a bug and ms norris told them off and i drew TWO pictures! one for mom and one for you and deedee. can we have pancakes tonight please?"

an hour later, steve is making pancakes when robin comes home from work. robin calls that she's home, and he hears giggling as she picks her kid up and whirls her around. he hears her distantly chatting to eddie before she appears in the kitchen, tugging off her work vest.

immediately he hears "stevie, you won't BELIEVE the day i've had today. keith kept spitting sunflower seeds on the carpet until i finally snapped and yelled at him to knock it off and i nearly fought TWO different customers. ooh, are those pancakes? hey, why are you laughing?"

[lavenderstobins]

josieverse moodboard

“I’m not a baby,” the little girl says, sounding offended. She puffs up, fixing Nancy with an indignant stare, even as she tugs Robin’s arm. “I’m six and a half.” “Josie,” Robin murmurs, perhaps in warning, but Nancy’s struck by the realisation that Robin’s bright blue eyes are staring up at her from this little girl’s face. Her mouth dries as she looks back at the girl, taking in the smattering of freckles across her nose, the features uncannily similar to photos she’s seen from Robin’s childhood. Her head snaps back up to Robin, and Robin looks guilty, confirming her suspicions. It feels like the wind’s knocked out of her all at once.  “She’s yours?” Nancy whispers.

Extract from my "Nancy returns to Hawkins" WIP from my Josieverse universe. [My Josieverse AU tag]

[lavenderstobins]

ooooo you wanna read my silly little stobin tiktok au so bad

[lavenderstobins]

following up: Is Mike her favorite person before or after she meets Nancy and they get together?

Before! Robin, Steve and Eddie move back to Hawkins when Josie’s small (they’d been living in California while Robin was in college) and the party show up constantly to see Josie. Mike I think would’ve been a really good big brother to Holly so I think he’s got the most experience with kids out of the group. I also think he has a soft spot for kids so he enjoys spending time with Josie and she adores him!

It’s something Nancy aches over when she first moves back to Hawkins because not only did Mike not tell her about Josie’s existence but seeing Josie light up around Mike while knowing she’s missed out on six years of this kid’s life stings :(

[lavenderstobins]

you dont need to answer this if you're not feeling it, but!!! I am obsessed with the Josie universe and want to know more. How does she handle sleepovers growing up? Does she love them? Is she a loner kid? Is she someone who is weird and quiet at home and social butterfly in school or vice versa? How do the four handle her school days? Is someone super involved while someone else just shows up when they're told to different recitals and family things?

I am always feeling Josieverse!!! I love answering anything about it please please please send me things!!!

How does she handle sleepovers growing up? Does she love them?

Josie’s really accustomed to sleepovers both because of living with Steve and Eddie alongside Robin and because of the party. Steve and Robin end up sharing their beds a lot so Eddie by extension also ends up sharing with them, and Josie would always crawl into Robin’s bed in the night so she’s used to sharing a room with other people. She doesn’t start having sleepovers at other people’s houses until she’s about 7 or 8, and by that point she’s also had experience with spending the night at her other mom’s house, so she adjusts to it pretty quickly!

That being said, she prefers when the sleepovers are held at her house, if only because all three of them (four, once Nancy comes back and starts dating Robin) make it SUCH an event for the kids. Steve pretends to be their butler for the evening and Eddie keeps bowing and calling everyone “madam” or “ma’am” which makes her giggle.

(Other answers under the cut since this ask ran away from me!)

Is she a loner kid?

Not at all! It’s something that really throws Robin for a loop initially because she was very isolated as a child whereas Josie seems to make new friends everywhere she goes.

Josie has a best friend named Squiggly (her real name is Samantha but her surname is Lines so her friends & family call her Squiggly) that she’s joined at the hip with growing up, and they have a little group of friends!

When she gets to her teens, I think she’d have close friendships with a couple of friends rather than a group of friends like she’d had growing up, but I think she’d be more than happy with that still.

Is she someone who is shy and quiet at home and social butterfly in school or vice versa?

She’s very social both at school and at home! She’s very chatty and has a lot of energy, particularly as a kid. She can talk a mile a minute and she often talks with her hands the same way Robin does. (In fairness to her, Steve and Robin are utter gossips with each other and she grows up in that environment.)

She’s not shy, but she’s cautious around strangers, and she also eavesdrops on the adults’ conversations so she has reservations about certain people when she meets them. Nancy, for example, she’s often heard talked about, but she doesn’t meet her until she’s six and a half, so she’s quieter around her until she can figure out Nancy’s deal. (Which is also a little bit funny because her favourite person ever—after Robin—is Mike.)

How do the four handle her school days?

Robin takes her to and from school most days — she usually drives her to school and then they walk home together because it gives them one-on-one time each day. I think when she’s a bit older they split the days so everyone gets time with Josie and the opportunity to have time with other people in their lives.

Once Robin starts dating Nancy things shift a little as Nancy adjusts into their lives so sometimes Steve and/or Eddie take her to school and pick her up. Nancy also does more of the school runs early on to try and get to know Josie better (which Josie loves because Nancy has such bad road rage and she’s trying so hard to keep it under control).

Is someone super involved while someone else just shows up when they’re told to for different recitals and family things?

They’re all pretty involved! Robin’s her mother so she’s the most involved person, but Steve and Eddie are a close joint-second since they’ve been there from the start. Josie’s other mom, Val, shows up mainly for events (once they’ve reconnected) or for support, which is fine with her.

Nancy finds herself attending more and more events while she’s reconnecting with Robin and then is also pretty involved once she actually takes on the stepmom role and starts dating Robin. A few of the others also attend the events they’re able to — Mike, Dustin, Erica, Lucas and Max in particular try to support whatever they can of hers in their own ways.

There’s an unspoken agreement that Robin always gets first priority, since Josie’s her kid, but often if there’s only a spot for two people to attend something, Steve, Eddie and Nancy will work out who should attend what so none of them really get to miss out.

[lavenderstobins]

Robin & Val, summer '88

I commissioned @otternil to draw Josie's other mom Val w/ Robin for Josieverse and look how cute it turned out!!!!

This is the only photo Robin has of Val to show Josie when she's older (until Val shows up again), courtesy of a photobooth they'd stumbled into for fun. She keeps it in a shoebox under her bed in case Josie ever asks.